


Teacher's Pet

by waddiwasiwitch



Series: With and Without [11]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Royai kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 07:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16214102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waddiwasiwitch/pseuds/waddiwasiwitch
Summary: Beth Mustang might be top of her class, but kids can be cruel.





	Teacher's Pet

  
**Teacher’s Pet**

Beth looked at the A+ scribbled on the first page of her book report. Her heart burst with pride. She couldn’t wait to show it to her father. He promised to take her out on a day trip the weekend and maybe she could convince him to take her to the zoo when he saw how well she did. She smiled to herself - she had worked so hard for this A+.

“Cheat,” the girl behind her hissed.

Beth turned around to give the girl the best withering look she could manage. “Shut up, Amanda.”

“The only reason why you get good marks is your Dad,” Amanda sneered.

Beth’s hands formed fists.

“Bet Miss Clarke wants to give him a kiss,” her friend, Sarah, added.

The girls sniggered and made smooching noises on their hands.

Lydia patted her arm. “Ignore them, Beth, they’re just jealous.”

Beth’s lower lip wobbled. What they were saying wasn’t true but it still upset her.

“Or maybe they’re afraid of him?” Amanda suggested in a sing-song voice.

Beth dug her nails into the palms of her hands. Every day it was the same, Amanda and her friends would try to belittle her or insult her dad.

She took a deep breath, stuck out her chin and turned her back on them. Lydia smiled reassuringly at her.

The bell rang for lunch and Beth’s stomach lurched. It should be her favourite time of the school day. She was sure some of the girls were putting stuff into her bag during lunch. She found nasty noted in there yesterday but she didn’t want to be a snitch and make things worse.

“Beth, come on,” Lydia called.

“One moment.” She put her report carefully into her bag hiding it in one of her books.

 

 

Beth’s heart was a little lighter by the end of lunch. She and Lydia spent the break coming up with inventive nicknames for Amanda and cronies. Of course, she would never say them to the girls’ faces although it did make her feel a little bit better.

The two friends returned to their classroom and Beth took her seat. She reached into her bag to get out her Maths book and felt something sticky. Her heart sank as she pulled out the Maths book and found an empty orange juice carton, an orange juice carton that wasn’t supposed to be in her bag. She bit on her trembling lip and reached for the exercise book her project was in. Both the book report and exercise book were soaked. The pages of the book report were stuck together and she couldn’t even make out the big A+ on the front.

Beth heard giggles from Amanda and her friends. For the first time since the girls started bullying her, Beth burst into tears in front of them.

She ignored Miss Clarke call after her as she ran from the room. Blood pumped in her ears and she ran blindly to the girls’ restroom and locked herself in a cubicle. She rubbed at her eyes, shame heating her face at her emotional outburst.

 

 

The outer door creaked open and Beth heard footsteps.

“Beth?”

It was Miss Clarke.

Beth wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m feeling sick.”

“Please open the door,” the teacher insisted.

Reluctantly, Beth sniffed, went to the door and unlatched it.

Miss Clarke felt her forehead. “You don’t feel feverish? I’ll take you to the nurse’s office and if you’re still not feeling better, we’ll contact your father or your grandmother.”

The older woman put her hand on her shoulder and guided her through the hall. “I saw your book review got wet.”

Beth’s lip trembled. “I wanted to show it to my dad. It’s our favourite book, he used to read it to me. He won’t even be able to see how well I did.”

“How about I write you a note then to tell your dad just how well you did?”

She raised her head. “Would you do that?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you, Miss Clarke.”

She opened the door to the nurse’s office and led Beth to a chair. She exchanged a few quiet words with the nurse.

“Actually, I’m feeling a bit better,” Beth said in a low voice, “I think I’ll come back to class.”

Miss Clarke smiled at her.

 

 

Later that evening, Beth presented her dad with her note from Miss Clarke. He frowned and unfolded the letter.

“Dear Mr Mustang,” he read aloud, “Your daughter wrote a superb book report but unfortunately due to an accident, her report got damaged-”

He looked at her. “What happened?”

“Just read on, Dad. You’re getting to the best part!”

He looked down and continued, “She got an A+!” He broke into a smile and pulled her into a hug. “Wow, that’s fantastic, baby girl! I’m so proud.” He looked down at the note again, “Sincerely, Miss Clarke-”

He continued to stare at the note, a small frown on his face. She wondered if Miss Clarke had written something about her outburst.

“So, how did the book report get damaged?”

“Orange juice. Someone spilt orange juice in my bag.” She picked up her bag and dropped out the books. “I didn’t see who did it.”

Roy took a closer look at the books and sighed.

He looked her right in the eye, “You know who did it though, don’t you?” His eyes narrowed. “Did someone do it on purpose?”

Oh crap, her father knew her too well.

She sighed. “I think it was Amanda, she hates me.”

His face softened. “What would you think that?”

“She and her friends are always saying mean things to me. I know you say, I shouldn’t care what people think, but I do and they say mean things about you too.”

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Tomorrow, we’re going to the zoo and on Monday, I’m going to see your teacher. Nobody bullies my little girl.”

“But, Dad.”

“No buts, if it is in my power to stop you hurting, I will do whatever it takes even go to the principal if your teacher can’t keep those girls in check.”

Beth smiled as her dad held her tight. Nobody made her feel safer than her dad. She felt kind of sorry for Miss Clarke. Her dad was going to unbearable.

 

Fin


End file.
